This invention relates to hose having spring inserts in the passageway thereof, together with yieldable means positioned in the passageway to permit the hose to be selectively deformed to any desired shape-retaining configuration.
Radiator hose, air brake hose and various other flexible automotive and industrial hoses incorporate corrugated spring inserts of annular or spiral coil form to resist collapse of the hose because of reduced pressures encountered. Hose with such non-embedded spring coil inserts are well known, see for instance U.S. Pat. No. 314,440 to Eames. To avoid obstacles or moving parts in a particular application, it is sometimes necessary to form the hose in a fixed shape, sometimes with multiple bends and complex curvature to provide the needed clearance. This is normally accomplished by molding the hose to the desired fixed shape, however with the drawback that inventories of each curved shape must be kept. Automotive coolant hose and smooth bore heater hose are examples of hose which must be bent or shaped to provide clearance from under-the-hood engine and automotive accessory components.
The use of rod type inserts which may be bent beyond their yield point to give the hose a desired shape, or for kink resistance, are known, as shown for instance in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,731,322 to Riddle, U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,741 to Yurdin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,289 to Moss, as well as the above-identified U.S. Ser. No. 795,343.
While the prior art formable hoses may have performed satisfactorily for their intended purposes, they lack applicability to flexible hose of the type having an interiorly positioned collapse resistant spring means.
It is an object of the subject invention to provide a formable hose in which a shaping member such as yieldable rod means, which permits selective deformation of the hose to a desired shape, is integrally attached to the spring insert to permit a coordinated bending and rebending of the hose as a structural unit. It is another object of one aspect of the invention to provide a combination spring insert and rod means which allows easy insertion within the passageway of the hose, attaining proper registration of the turns of the spring insert within corresponding troughs of the corrugated inner wall of the hose, and precluding displacement of the turns from the associated troughs. It is another object to provide means for accurately maintaining spacing between turns of the coil, and to prevent their crossing over one another. These and other objects will become apparent upon a reading of the following description.